Condenser

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a condenser, in particular for motor vehicle air-conditioning units, comprising a block of pipes and ribs with collector tubes arranged to both sides.

The invention relates to a condenser, in particular a brazed refrigerant condenser, in particular for motor-vehicle air-conditioning units, consisting of a block of tubes and ribs and collecting tubes which are arranged on both sides and which, at least on one side of the block, have a base, accommodating the ends of the tubes, and a cover, and of a collector which is arranged parallel to a collecting tube, is fluidically connected to the collecting tube via connecting openings and is composed of a tube and a short profile piece having the connecting openings.

In the earlier Patent Application having the reference 101 54 891.5, the collecting tube of the condenser is of two-piece design and consists of a base with passages for accommodating tube ends and of a cover with two passages which form connecting openings to an adjacent collector. The collector, on the one side, is composed of a welded or brazed, relatively thin-walled tube and an extruded profile piece, the profile piece having holes for receiving the passages of the cover. A dividing wall is put into the collecting tube between the two connecting openings. The production of such a condenser is not without technical problems, in particular with regard to the connecting openings between collecting tube and collector.

DE-A 198 48 744 has disclosed a further refrigerant condenser, although having a one-piece collecting tube. The collector there is composed of a thin-walled tube and an extruded profile piece, the profile piece, in the region of the connecting openings, having a bearing surface which is adapted to the profile of the collecting tube and serves as contact surface for the brazing. A disadvantage with this type of construction is that collecting tube and collector must first be fixed relative to one another by tack welding before the brazing.

The object of the present invention is to improve a refrigerant condenser of the type mentioned at the beginning to the effect that the connecting openings between collector and collecting tube are simple to produce and can be brazed in a reliable manner.

This object is achieved by the features of patent claim 1.

Integrally formed on the profile piece of the collector is a cover profile which corresponds to a first cover part of the collecting tube. As a result, the profile piece is connected via the cover profile directly to a base part, such as the base of the collecting tube. This results in the advantage that passages or similar openings no longer have to be provided in the first cover part, since the profile piece already has the connecting openings. A manufacturing step is thus dispensed with and the risk of leaky brazing occurring between cover part and profile piece in the region of the connecting openings is thus likewise removed.

Advantageous configurations of the invention follow from the subclaims.

According to an advantageous development of the invention, the first cover part integrally formed on the profile piece is supplemented by a shortened second cover part. This shortened second cover part directly adjoins the first cover part and is connected to the base part or base.

In a further configuration of the invention, grooves in which the longitudinal edges of the base part or base engage are arranged parallel to the longitudinal edges of the first cover part. This makes it possible to fix the profile piece or first cover part and the base part or base on the one hand and permits reliable brazing on the other hand.

According to a further advantageous development of the invention, the first cover part, with its top edge, is stepped relative to the top edge of the profile piece and at the same time forms a bearing surface for the shortened second cover part. This results in sound brazing in this joint region between first cover part and second cover part on account of the overlapping with the profile piece.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawing and are described in more detail below. In the drawing:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective illustration of a profile piece with integrally formed cover part,

FIG. 2 shows a modified embodiment of a profile piece with laterally arranged first cover part, and

FIG. 3 shows the profile piece according to FIG. 2 with mounted base part or base.

FIG. 1 shows part of a collector for a condenser, such as a refrigerant condenser. The collector 1 is composed of a relatively thin-walled welded or brazed tube 2 (only partly shown) and of an extruded profile piece 3. Integrally formed on the profile piece 3—advantageously likewise by extrusion—is a first “cover part” 4, which has approximately the shape of a semicircle in cross section. The cover profile 4 extends in the longitudinal direction from a bottom edge 4 a up to a top edge 4 b. The profile piece 3, which is designed as a hollow cylinder, extends from a bottom edge 3 a up to a top edge 3 b. Whereas the bottom edge 3 a of the profile piece 3 and the bottom edge 4 a of the first cover part 4 terminate flush with one another, the top edges 3 b and 4 b are offset from one another—they form a step 5. A second cover part 6 is attached in the region of this step 5 and is arranged in alignment with the first cover part 4. With regard to its cross section, the second cover part 6 therefore has essentially the same geometry as the first cover part 4. Dividing walls 7, 8 and an end wall 9 are inserted into the first cover part 4 and the second cover part. In the first cover part 4, a connecting opening 10 is arranged above the dividing wall 7 and a connecting opening 11 is arranged below the dividing wall 7—they may be incorporated, for example, as holes in the extruded profile piece 3. The first cover part 4 has two longitudinal edges 4 c, 4 d, which continue in longitudinal edges 6 a, 6 b of the second cover 6. Formed parallel to the longitudinal edge 4 a on the profile piece 3 is a lip 12, which together with the longitudinal edge 4 d forms a groove 13. The first cover part 4 and the second cover part 6 form the entire cover of the collecting tube (not completely shown here). A base part or a base is put onto this cover 4, 6, a factor which is not shown here, this base part or base, by means of one of its two longitudinal edges, engaging in the groove 13 and thus being fixed. The collector 1 and collecting tube are thus essentially preassembled as a subassembly.

The first cover part is preferably part of the profile piece and can also be designated as cover profile.

The connection between the first and the second cover part and the base is effected by brazing.

In the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 1, the first cover part is oriented in such a way that the base to be connected to it is oriented in such a way that the center plane of the tubes of the tube block intersects the tube profile as viewed in cross section. In this case, it may be expedient if the section lies in the region of greatest extent of the tube or, in another exemplary embodiment, outside the region of greatest extent of the tube. In a further exemplary embodiment according to the invention, the center plane of the tube block does not intersect the tube profile.

FIG. 2 shows a modified exemplary embodiment having a profile piece 14 which is designed as a hollow cylinder 15. A first cover part 16 is integrally formed parallel to and at the side of the hollow cylinder 15, this cover part 16 being produced in one piece with the hollow cylinder 15 by extrusion. The first cover part 16 corresponds essentially to the profile 4 according to FIG. 1, the connecting openings not being shown here. Arranged parallel to this first cover part 16 are two longitudinal grooves 17, 18, in which a base part or base (not shown here) engages. The first cover part 16 continues in a second cover part 19 of the same cross section.

FIG. 3 shows the profile piece 14 according to FIG. 2, the same reference numerals being used for the same parts. The perspective illustration shows a view into the interior of a hollow cylinder 15, into which three connecting openings 20, 21, 22 open, which come out of the profile 16 on the other side—a factor which is not shown. Inserted into the grooves 17, 18 of the first cover part 16 is a base 23, which has a multiplicity of passages 24 for accommodating flat tubes (not shown). Due to this arrangement of the first cover part 16 next to the hollow cylinder 15, the collector is located next to the tube/rib block (not shown), which may be advantageous in the motor vehicle for installation reasons. 

1. A condenser, in particular for motor-vehicle air-conditioning units, consisting of a block of tubes and ribs and collecting tubes arranged on both sides, at least one collecting tube having a base, accommodating the ends of the tubes, and a cover, and of a collector which is arranged parallel to a collecting tube, is fluidically connected to the collecting tube via connecting openings and is composed of a tube and a short profile piece having the connecting openings, the profile piece having an integrally formed first cover part which forms part of the cover.
 2. The condenser as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the cover is connected, for example brazed, to the base part.
 3. The condenser as claimed in claim 1 [[or 2]], characterized in that the cover of the collecting tube is composed of the first cover part and a shortened second cover part.
 4. The condenser as claimed in claim 1 [[, 2 or 3]], characterized in that the first cover part has two longitudinal edges which engage in the base part or the base.
 5. The condenser as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that a lip is arranged parallel to at least one longitudinal edge, and this lip together with the longitudinal edge forms a groove for accommodating the base.
 6. The condenser as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the first cover part (4) and the profile piece (3) each have a top edge (4 b, 3 b), and these top edges (4 b, 3 b) together form a step (5), against which the second cover part (6) partly bears. 